Editor’s Note – May/June 2024

It always seems that June is the fastest month of the year. After waiting for summer to finally arrive, the 30 days of June feel like they take less than two weeks to pass. The next thing you know, the Fourth of July is here, and before long, back-to-school ads start appearing on local TV stations. Why can’t January and February go by as fast?

That is the thing about summer — it always seems to travel at warp speed. Part of the problem is there is always too much I want to do, and must do, during the warm summer months. As the old adage goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

One familiar “rite of passage” of summer for many people is taking a vacation. Personally, I have many fond memories of vacations from days gone by, especially those as a kid with my parents and sister. Reflecting back, my parents were a lot braver than my wife and I, when we had smaller children in the house.

While growing up in the 1970s and early 1980s, my parents thought nothing of loading our 1974 Buick Estate Wagon with a few suitcases and heading the family to Colorado, Florida, or some other far away location. We would spend 7 to 10 days (or more) exploring different places. I grew up in Central Illinois, so those trips were long — and wonderful. It was a chance to escape the doldrums of everyday life before school started again, and to go to places that looked much different than I was accustomed. Believe me, having been raised in a small town of 450 people surrounded by flat-as-a-pancake corn and soybean fields, exploring the Rocky Mountains or a beach along the Atlantic Ocean was unworldly.

I feel it’s this gift of exploration that has made the bus and motorcoach industry so popular over the many past decades. People can take a trip just about anywhere in North America on a bus/coach — and not have to worry about driving or where to stay the night. Everything is planned in advance.

One provider of such adventures is Adventure Tours, celebrating its 25^th anniversary in 2024 and the cover feature company for this issue of Busline Magazine. Adventure Tours remains a premier transportation provider, specializing in charter and luxury motorcoach travel, shuttle work, and line run operation, with locations in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, PA, Long Island, NY, and Charlotte, NC. Plans are in place to soon open a fifth location in Richmond, VA.

“Our core values and commitment to excellence starts with our people. They are the face of this company,” Adventure Tours President Adnan Khan said, during a recent interview. “They live by the philosophy, ‘If you want to do something, do it well and be great at it.’”

Although the main service area for Adventure Tours is throughout the East Coast, it’s possible to see the company’s equipment in far-reaching locations.

“When asked where we go, our main response is simple, ‘Wherever our customers want to visit,’” Khan said. “That has included cross-country trips to multiple places from New York to California. Having four locations strategically placed has provided a broader range of customers.”

Public transportation also provides many opportunities for people to explore. One example involves the various services provided by the Redding Area Bus Authority (RABA), which is also featured in this issue of Busline. RABA is a joint-powers agency serving the far northern California cities of Redding, Shasta Lake, Anderson, as well as other parts of Shasta County, CA.

Along with transporting passengers in local cities and connecting riders to other interregional transportation services, it’s possible to take a RABA vehicle to several scenic places in the region. That includes Shasta Lake and the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. Both are quite popular this time of year.

The summer of 2024 promises to be a very busy time for all types of transportation providers and their passengers. Here is to a wonderful and safe summer!

I would like to thank everyone for their continued support of Busline Magazine. Please send news items and story ideas to my email address at: harrellk@rdgmedia.net.

Harrell Kerkhoff

Editor, Busline Magazine